Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Tue May 31st Todays News

Obama recently went to Japan and failed to address the issue of a Democrat President dropping an atom bomb on a civilian population twice. But then the Nobel Peace Prize winner has form for targeted bombing of civilians. He then went to Vietnam and praised those who used terror tactics to defeat the US. In the meantime, there is an election that is being prepared for in the US. The contest is between a liar or a socialist with principles, and the GOP nominee of Trump. I might not agree with all that Trump says, but I'll support him over Hilary or Sanders any time. I know that Hilary stands for corrupt women everywhere, but let's not make gender the issue. I will not support the corrupt regardless of gender. Meanwhile in Australia, an incompetent deputy leader of the Libs, who happens to be female, was unable to enunciate party policy. But she still supports her leader, who is rumored to be a man. The Liberal Party leader says Australia is a little bit racist. Malcolm Turnbull is a little bit competent, but not the rest. Still, Turnbull is better than Shorten. Don't forget the last experiment with ALP killed 1200 who wanted to be Australians. Almost as if they were gorilla with children in a zoo. For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.

This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.

===For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball

Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may; I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - edLorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.

I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.net) which will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free.

Happy birthday and many happy returns Willy Loh and Jessica Thai. In 1223, Mongols spanked some Ukrainians. In 1669 Samuel Pepys's eyesight gave out, and he recorded his last diary entry in a very important english restoration period primary source. But in 1981, some people, possibly Presbyterian, destroyed over 97000 items in the library of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. I am confident the books hadn't threatened them. Your day is filled with promise. Try not to burn it.

Tim Blair – Tuesday,May 31,2016 (7:11pm)

The signs were later removed. In other gender-jumpin’ news, Oregon woman Malka Davis writes about an incident at the women’s homeless shelter where she sought refuge in 2014:

A few weeks into my stay, I returned to find a number of women in distress. Reportedly, one woman had even fled the shelter in terror.

What was wrong? What was the uproar about? An answer soon followed: The shelter had admitted a man who “self-identified” as a woman. No doubt this was not a first for the shelter; it was, however, a first for those of us who were relative newcomers.

Under Oregon’s anti-discrimination laws, women’s shelters are required to take in men who claim to be women. Malka continues:

The realization that a man was going to be sharing sleeping and bathroom space with us (in this particular area, there are no private or even semi-private rooms) was understandably met with tremendous anxiety, and, yes, even outrage. After all, not a few of these women were escaping domestic and sexual abuse committed by men, a trauma that doesn’t magically disappear once you’re away from your abuser. They thought they had found a haven exclusively for women ...

He often sought me out to talk about his experiences both inside and outside the shelter. In return, I listened and sometimes offered words of consolation. But at no point did I come to regard Clarence as a woman, nor did I refer to him as one. I saw him as an intelligent, sensitive, but very fragile and confused man. That is to say, I afforded him the dignity he deserved as a human being without denying the truth of his gender.

Nonetheless, I believe the shelter was wrong for admitting him. It jeopardized the security of a dozen or so women for the benefit of one man’s sense of belonging.

The more I research the BRR and Safe Schools programs, the more bewildered I am as to how Labor leaders like Bill Shorten and Daniel Andrews endorsed this rubbish. Gough Whitlam must be turning in his grave.

The Great Man dedicated his life to the principles of the Age of Enlightenment: that rational, evidence-based argument could create a better and fairer society. Not only is the post-structuralist agenda anti-reason, anti-science and anti-family, it is also anti-education.

It wants to abandon the conventional process of learning through known facts and universally established truths, creating a borderless world of genderless individuals.

Tim Blair – Tuesday,May 31,2016 (4:01pm)

But some of the angst endemic to the developed world, with its lost manufacturing jobs and squeezed opportunities, has seeped of late into the irreverent Australian psyche ... Unemployment is not high, but underemployment is. Australia is America’s ally in an increasingly Chinese neighborhood; that could be problematic. The next big thing is unclear.

Could Australia’s luck have run out? Is it ripe for the politics of anger that play well these days from the United States to Austria?

As opposed to the politics of happy, which existed … when, exactly, Roger?

“There has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian,” insists the conservative Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Who isn’t conservative.

The Labor party has committed to legalizing same-sex marriage and fighting climate change, issues Turnbull has shied away from. Climate change is nonsense for the flat-earth rightist wing of his Liberal party, whose figurehead is the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Does Cohen know just how little Australia contributes to so-called climate change gases?

The only issue the parties seem to agree on is getting tough with refugees trying to reach Australia by boat — so tough that the refugees end up in limbo on sweltering Pacific islands where desperation, self-harm and death stalk them. This untenable policy, too, reflects anxiety.

No, it reflects a need to stop thousands of people drowning.

Australia shows signs of the fundamental divide in developed societies today — between an international urban elite of progressive social values and angry nativists suspicious of the outsider, blindsided by globalization, wary of change, and unsure of their children’s future.

Abbott, a loudmouth with a loony streak, was in some ways a precursor of Donald Trump. His slogans had three words — “Stop the boats” (immigrants), “Ax the tax” (climate change). He also made a speech in front of a sign, referring to then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard, that said “Ditch the witch” (misogyny). He crashed and burned in a gale of gaffes — bringing back knighthoods and bestowing one on Prince Philip of Britain was an example — but only after he had ranted his way to the top job. This precedent is troubling.

“Crashed and burned” = being at the same point in opinion polls as Malcolm Turnbull is right now.

Trump has gotten three-word slogans down to two-word epithets — “Little Marco,” “Lyin’ Ted,” “Crooked Hillary” and so on — and he has raised Abbott several notches on the mob-mobilizing meanness front.

Humanity is showing its other face. The sway of neoliberal economics favoring the wealthy in Western societies, the departure offshore of manufacturing jobs, stagnant wages, large refugee flows from war zones, media outlets with tribal followings and the flourishing of violent anti-Western jihadi ideology in an Arab world of blocked political systems have created a near-perfect storm for rightist populists of the Abbott and Trump ilk.

Explain, then, why Abbott is no longer Prime Minister.

Australia in its vastness, at once protected and troubled by the tyranny of distance, watches the American and European political dramas from afar. But it is not immune to the new anger — as Turnbull’s deference to Abbott shows. That is a sign of the extreme vigilance needed in a world of violent volatility.

Vigilance. That’s the ticket. Extreme vigilance will return us to a time of peaceful volatility.

Tim Blair – Tuesday,May 31,2016 (2:03am)

For a third election in a row, we are confronted with the same nagging question: will we ever get a decent government again? The past three are among the least effective in our history …

Only the Rudd government has a legacy to speak of … he helped keep Australia out of recession when it mattered most …

With hindsight, it is clear that the Gillard minority government was the most ambitious. It successfully legislated for a price on carbon pollution, which reduced emissions, and introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme …

The Abbott–Turnbull government has been the worst of the trio.

Read the whole thing, and see if you can identify a certain subject Megalogenis declines to mention. Hint: it involved the deaths of at least 1200 people.

Tim Blair – Tuesday,May 31,2016 (1:58am)

The New York Times – and their governmental wing, the Democrats – are becoming jittery:

Democrats could hardly believe their good fortune last month when it became clear that Hillary Clinton was headed to a general election showdown with Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump carried so much baggage and had insulted so many voting blocs that some Clinton supporters began to imagine a landslide.

But early optimism that this would be an easy race is evaporating. In the corridors of Congress, on airplane shuttles between New York and Washington, at donor gatherings and on conference calls, anxiety is spreading through the Democratic Party that Mrs. Clinton is struggling to find her footing.

While she enjoys many demographic advantages heading into the fall, key Democrats say they are growing worried that her campaign has not determined how to combat her unpredictable, often wily Republican rival, to whom criticism seldom sticks and rules of decorum seem not to apply.

Please. “Rules of decorum” weren’t much of an issue when the NYT twice endorsed Bill Clinton.

The headline is the SMH rewrite of a less accusatory but still brainlessly offensive effort by the New York Times.Steve Kates responds:

The ... text is from The New York Times in
an article titled, Rise of Donald Trump Tracks Growing Debate Over
Global Fascism. Here’s the definition they use:

Fascism, generally defined as a governmental system that asserts
complete power and emphasizes aggressive nationalism and often racism.

Let’s see which of the following would characterise the US if Donald Trump were elected:

the imposition of an ideology to which every member of the community must subscribe
a police state in which opponents of the regime are in peril of their lives and are often imprisoned
a centrally planned economy
suppression of dissent
a state run media

Not one of these is even remotely possible if Donald Trump were elected
president… Calling Trump a fascist is ignorance attempting to deceive
the willingly ignorant.

But elect Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders and you might tick off a couple of items on that list.

Mandatory belief in the ideologies of same-sex marriage, gender fluidity and global warming? Tick.
A more centrally planned economy? Tick, for the socialist Sanders.
Suppression of dissent? Tick. Note whose stormtroopers are trying to
shut down everything from Christian bakeries to Trump rallies.
A state run media? Give them time.

Even the rise of Donald Trump provides
evidence of pornography’s social harm. How to understand the success of
Trump’s makeup-caked, misogynistic candidacy, except as an eruption onto
the political stage of the pornographic subterrain?
If you cringe at Trump’s sneering misogyny, then join me in calling for a ban on the thing that made his crude appeal possible.

How green parents and teachers traumatise their children. And note that they’re so eager to make green propaganda from their distressed child that they don’t console a crying baby, either.
He’s quite the green tyrant at home, too. Wonder who taught him that?
More than 16 million views so far, too. They couldn’t get more unless they filmed Waleed Aly doing the tantrum.
UPDATE
Oops. They did:

On Tuesday on the campus of Florida Atlantic
University in Boca Raton, FL, the university’s Muslim Student
Association’s hosted a so-called Islamophobia panel discussion…
FAU Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science Associate Professor Bassem Al Halabi was included on the panel
of these distinguished experts and he made the incredible statement
about the case to be made for Sharia Law and it’s provisions of capital
punishment, including the cutting off of hands.
‘"Where there is no Sharia, Islamic Sharia, they die in dozens and
hundreds every day because of organized crime. People kill people, other
people or steal pizza for $10 and so – so when Islamic Shariah is
saying about capital punishment – so even though it sounds like it is
severe but if that is the solution to prevent any crimes, then it still
has a lot of rules and regulations. I will just mention one and stop
here, which is let’s say cutting off the hands of a person if they
steal. It sounds very severe. It sounds very barbaric, I know. But if
takes one or two people to have their hands cut off, and then there’s no
more stealing and there’s no more stealing in the whole nation – that’s
a much better resolution than having hundreds of people die every day.”

The CFMEU has donated almost $1.5
million to the ALP’s Victorian branch since 2007-08. No wonder a
grateful Labor Premier is mute on the outrageous pay deal that will cost
taxpayers dearly. Signing up to the CFMEU’s EBA adds about 30 per cent
to the cost of public infrastructure. To put it another way, with the
CFMEU’s pampered members on the job, you miss out on 300km of road for
every 1000km that get built…
A cursory scan of [federal] Labor’s 100 Positive Policies shows how
unions bearing gifts have virtually bought the party. Labor is opposing
modest changes to weekend penalty rates in accordance with the wishes of
the SDA, the comrades who slipped the party $2.3m to fight the last
election.
Labor’s plans to impose protection on the steel industry will delight
the AWU while its promise to strengthen rights at work and clamp down on
foreign seasonal employment will be popular across the whole union
movement. Labor has pledged to restore the Commonwealth Cleaning
Services Guidelines scrapped by the Coalition, which mandated above
award wages to cleaners in commonwealth government buildings and obliged
contractors to promote union membership to new employees, arrange
meetings between employees and union officials and invite union
delegates to attend induction training.
Which union would that be? United Voice, which has given more than $3.7m
to the Labor Party since the guidelines were introduced in 2012.

Cater will be on the panel of The Bolt Report tonight on Sky News Live at 7pm.

One of the most influential backers of
the Safe Schools program has threatened to withdraw future financial
support, unless the founder of the program, hard-line Marxist Roz Ward,
steps down over her comments denigrating the Australian flag.
Beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett yesterday called for Ms Ward to resign
from the role, saying her “extreme political views” rendered her
“ineligible to be involved in any program …. in schools”. Mr Kennett,
whose charity has provided almost $600,000 over the past two years to La
Trobe University’s Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and
Society, which administers the Safe Schools program in Victoria, added:
“You don’t want extremists in there...”
While Ms Ward’s Marxist leanings have been a matter of public record for
some time, last week’s post to Facebook, in which she called for the
“racist Australian flag” to be replaced with the red ensign favoured by
socialists, appears to have been a step too far for her supporters
within Victoria’s Labor government.
Ms Ward was forced to resign from a state government education advisory
role as a result, while La Trobe University announced an investigation
into her role as manager of Safe Schools Coalition Victoria, which is
funded by the state government.

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham yesterday called for Ms Ward
to step down from the national steering committee for Safe Schools
Coalition Australia…
“Her extreme views have done a grave disservice to this program and are anathema to the vast majority of Australians."…
The British-born academic has become the face of Safe Schools, an
anti-bullying program geared at gay and transgender youth, which has
been criticised for promoting the idea that gender and sexuality is a
“social construct” rather than biological.
Ms Ward ... has previously admitted that the program was about gender
and sexual diversity, rather than preventing bullying, and has spoken at
public events about Safe Schools being part of a strategy to change
society.

Tim Blair – Sunday,May 31,2015 (1:08am)

Incredible. First George Megalogenis assumes the crowds boo Goodes, alone of the Aboriginal players, because they are racist. Then he blames Tony Abbott for it. Even stranger, he blames a proposed change in the law that Abbott actually decided not to make:

Er, George, here’s a critical difference. Long in 1995 protested at being racially abused. Goodes in 2015 pretended to attack Carlton supporters with a spear. Defensive vs aggressive. Get it?
What do they call a blind hatred that cannot be contradicted even by the facts? Yes, I know racism is one form of it, but what is George’s?
(Via Rita Panahi.)

It drives me nuts that so many partisans consult their prejudices and not their ears - and that is often the case when they come to attack Alan Jones.
How on earth could the sub-editor have put a headline on this story that contradicted not just the first paragraph of the copy but the audio linked to in the story of what I thought was a brave, passionate and affecting declaration from Jones, who must have known that many of his listeners would not be pleased:

With UNESCO giving the Reef a clean bill of health in a long-awaited report, the likes of Greenpeace, WWF, GetUp and the Australian Marine Conservation Society have been discredited and should not be permitted to peddle their lies in Queensland. In fact, the green movement’s role in this sorry debacle exposes them as frauds The UNESCO report accepted that enough has been done by Australia to stop the destruction of the Reef. The trigger for the UNESCO probe was the Port of Gladstone expansion to cater for the boom in coal and coal seam gas exports, featuring the biggest dredging project in Australia’s history. Despite heavy conditions and environmental regulations, the greenies jumped on the issue which allowed them to link coal exports to climate change and the Reef.For the Queensland tourism industry, the possibility of a UNESCO listing of the Great Barrier Reef as endangered would have had catastrophic implications for the state. It would have sent a message to tourists that the Reef had lost its lustre. But of course, the conservationists don’t have time for the trivialities of an industry worth billions every year to the economy…The Greens are a major threat to the Queensland economy, fuelled by the Labor Left’s love affair with the movement and its capacity to stop progress… The Great Barrier Reef tick of approval from UNESCO has exposed the state’s eco-warriors as the kings of deceit and lies. They should not be given a platform for their views because they have proven they are not capable of being honest and candid.

[Scott] Morrison and [Malcolm] Turnbull continue to be “mates”. But now, they find themselves on different sides of a bitter Cabinet split over stripping Australian-born terrorists of their citizenship. Explosive and detailed Cabinet leaks this week have shocked MPs. While at first glance it might look like evidence that Abbott’s leadership is under pressure again, many MPs believe it a sign of something very different…

They believe backbench support for the PM shows that Turnbull’s ambitions to take that job are over and that Bishop is “out of touch’’. On Friday, 40 backbenchers including Luke Simpkins, who co-sponsored the original spill motion, wrote to Mr Abbott urging him to go even further on citizenship reforms.The debate in the Cabinet this past Monday night was not over revoking the citizenship of dual nationals, which has broad support. The argument was about the prospect of revoking Australian-born citizens of their rights if they had foreign parents and the possibility of citizenship elsewhere.By all accounts, Turnbull was in a “vile’’ mood after Monday night. He later told colleagues he was “quite cross’’. That, to those who know him, is code for having gone troppo…Turnbull was furious over the lack of detail surrounding the idea of giving ministers powers to strip Australian citizens of their rights without trial.“Depriving them of their only citizenship with no evidence that can go to court?’’ he told colleagues. “What happened to the rule of law?....as Bishop pointed out to the meeting, there were all sorts of problems in cancelling the citizenship of a terrorist with foreign-born parents in the hope that another country would grant them citizenship…Critics of Turnbull and Bishop rubbish their “confected outrage’’ over suggestions the PM ambushed the meeting. Several newspapers had published front-page articles in the week leading up to the Cabinet meeting quoting new Immigration Minister Peter Dutton as wanting to examine the issue. How could the idea being in the discussion paper have surprised anyone?And, as the PM told Liberal MPs on the day of the meeting, the legislation would not be designed to strip Australian-born terrorists of their rights. It would be limited to dual nationals.“Malcolm contrives this confected argument about process in the National Security Committee and it’s all about reopening the events of February and the leadership,’’ a Liberal minister says.“People will write about Bishop one day. She’s got a complete glass jaw and she sits taking notes in Cabinet. What does she do with those notes?” One Liberal MP insists: “The Cabinet ministers opposed to this have completely misread the mood of the party room. Julie has been left high and dry.’’

Yes, the backbench is backing Abbott’s view over Turnbull’s and Bishop’s. But note: it is also backing Morrison’s over theirs.
That said, Turnbull had a point, and it would be wise of Abbott not to push too hard. Not this side of the election, at least.

Changing the definition of marriage is so contentious it can’t be left to politicians who are vulnerable to threats and intimidation. It’s a decision that must be made by the Australian people at a referendum. If the polls constantly cited by “marriage equality” advocates are correct, they have nothing to fear. Same-sex marriage will be legitimised by a vote of the people as it never will if it is just railroaded through parliament.

There are many opponents who are convinced that if Parliament votes for same-sex marriage it will be a stitch-up by the political and media class, against the wishes of the public and before a genuine debate that involves voters and not just professional chatterers.
If advocates of same-sex marriage are sure of their cause, and if they want this right granted as a public affirmation of gay relationships, then why not a plebiscite? Good for them and good for the country.

EDDIE McGuire says he is “on Adam Goodes’ side” despite labelling the Sydney Swan’s indigenous war dance on Friday night as “aggressive”. The Collingwood president reacted strongly at half time to Goodes’ emotional display.“We’ve never seen that before and I don’t think we ever want to see it again to be perfectly honest, no matter what it is,” McGuire declared on Fox Footy. “It’s quite aggressive, let’s be honest.”But yesterday McGuire said while he stood by the live coverage, he was “deeply offended” by anyone inferring he had been critical of Goodes…“I’m in full support of Adam Goodes, I never said it was ­violent or aggressive,” he said.

Strange. Social media suggests much of the public is against Goodes’ symbolic act of violence. But almost no commentator or AFL official will criticise it.

Tim Blair – Friday,May 31,2013 (2:42pm)

According to Waleed Aly, terrorism is an “irritant” that “kills relatively few people”. We should be “mature” in dealing with it. But Aly is angry about drones:

The central problem is drones permit a kind of no-risk, low-cost warfare.

As opposed to high-risk, massive-cost warfare. Bring back the glory days of World War I.

War is a kind of contract. Each side confronts the other, with the risk of death and defeat.

Andrew Bolt replies: “There is no contract of the kind you imagine. The contract a society has is actually with its citizens, not its enemies. That contract is to fight for the society’s self-protection using whatever means it has to minimise its own losses and maximise those of its foes.” Quite so. Aly continues:

In short, war should come at a cost.

Yes. To the other guy.

That contract is shredded when you’re attacked by something that cannot itself be killed.

You can’t kill a suicide bomber once he or she has already detonated, pal. Besides being “irritants”, they’re also in breach of Aly’s contractual code.

It’s not remotely a fair fight. It’s scarcely a fight at all.

Good.

For all the horror, pain, and gore of the battlefield, there’s something to be said for it. It’s one of the very best reasons every nation has not to go to war … The prospect of waging a war without sacrifice is a frightening prospect.

Depends whose side you’re on.

The historical record suggests our every military development seems to have made war less and less costly for those waging it, with horrific results.

Tim Blair – Friday,May 31,2013 (3:54am)

When an Australian scientist’s report is commissioned by a think-tank linked to a subsidiary organisation that once received $100,000 from a climate change sceptic group in the US, it’s evidence of a conspiracy.

Tim Blair – Friday,May 31,2013 (3:47am)

The family of a Sydney man under investigation for alleged terrorism offences says his arrest for allegedly threatening to “slit the throat” of a Commonwealth official is an attempt by authorities to justify him being under intense surveillance for three years …

Writing in his defence, relative Tamana Daqiq said that despite Al-Ahmadazi being branded a “firebrand jihadist” – and a warning issued by the Australian Defence Force for its personnel to stay clear of him – the 23-year-old was a “caring”, “loving” and “considerate” young man who posed no threat to national security.

She said he had been subjected to 24-hour surveillance since he was 19 …

So what does one allegedly do when under constant police watch? Well …

Al-Ahmadzai was refused bail when he appeared in court on Tuesday. He is due to appear before Parramatta Local Court on Friday to be sentenced over an unrelated matter involving the ram-raid theft of an ATM on Sydney’s upper north shore in July 2011.

So Kevin Rudd is having dinner with colleagues when in walks the shamefully abusive Labor MP Steve Gibbons:

...when asked how his motion [to strip the Prime Minister of her powers to choose her own cabinet] was coming along, Gibbons replied with a finger pointed at Rudd: “It’s f ... ed. Thanks to him.”“What do you mean Steve?"a confused Rudd asked.“Well because you’ve supported it, its now f ... ed.”“But Steve, its been my publicly stated position for 14 months, what did I do?”“Well its now just completely f ... ed,” Gibbons continued.“You have such a pleasant way of expressing support for your motion, Steve.”“You have completely f ... ed it,” Gibbons repeated, to the growing amusement of the six other MPs at the table.Rudd concluded the exchange with his own sweet profanity. “Steve, go f ... yourself!”

Such is the paranoia.
But really, Gillard supporters should realise Rudd isn’t their problem. Simon Benson:

It was the worst week, of the worst year, of the worst parliament in the history of Australian parliaments… The bungled attempt by the government to pass new electoral funding laws that proposed to take $60 million from taxpayers and put it in to political parties campaign coffers is emblematic of just how out of touch the political class in Canberra is with the rest of the country… Gillard’s own failure to walk away, even after it was dead, instead continuing to back it, is symbolic of how out of touch her leadership team is ...The well known Rudd supporter Anthony Byrne, the chair of the intelligence committee, fired the second missile on Monday when he attacked the government in parliament over funding cuts to the spy agencies. That too, was labelled a “disgrace”.Then there was the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ spectacularly inept response to suggestions that Chinese hackers had stolen the blueprints to its new $650 million office block… The PM couldn’t buy a trick when it was revealed the NBN was exposing people to asbestos. And then news that a suspected terrorist wanted by Interpol had been living in low security detention centre in South Australia for a year as an asylum seeker.

If true, there are no racists. Just people feeling there must be.
This kind of thinking, with traces already now embedded in legislation, leaves us increasingly defenceless against the justice of the pointed finger. Someone need merely to claim they were hurt, no matter how trivial or imagined the offence, and racism is proved.
The victim is king, and reason in chains.
UPDATE

Being the victim, paradoxically, can place one in a position of power. Few are game to disagree with victims (or their supporters), or question motives, or challenge them in any way for fear of being seen as an uncaring bully. When Aboriginal identity and mandated ‘respect’ are factored in, questioning victim status will likely be seen as tantamount to racism. Therefore, adopting the victim role (feeling upset, offended, outraged, racially vilified, or whatever) can be a very effective and convenient way of silencing dissent, and inducing feelings of guilt in others. Silencing others provides the ‘offended’ victim with a sense of power over others - and that feels good. Victims remain unchallenged with their victim status intact and unassailable. Any open debate on the problems facing Aboriginal people is stifled… The interest of the political parties in maintaining an Aboriginal problem is compounded by the existence of a small group of Aboriginal activists whose vocation is confrontation, who generally derive their own income from governmental sources, either directly or indirectly and who must have poor Aborigines to point to in order to have a raison d’etre themselves…There are therefore, people with a vested interest in having Aboriginal people maintain a view of themselves as victims. This has led to the term ‘Aboriginal industry’ - describing the many positions as ‘cultural experts’, consultants, advisers, etc., devoted to addressing Aboriginal issues. People in these roles are reluctant to give them up…I am not denying that racism exists in Australia; it does – as it does in any country… However, one of the barriers to weeding out racism is the focus on confected racism. It has become far too easy to make claims of racism when a non-Aboriginal person disagrees with an Aboriginal person. Or a racist motive is assumed (never substantiated, just assumed) when a person of mixed heritage is questioned about why they choose to identify solely as Aboriginal…Rather than just complaining [of racism], I suggest it’s better to adopt the approach of Aboriginal singer-songwriter Jimmy Little, who said; “Racism has never been a problem for me. I know who I am. If others don’t, then that’s their problem.”Why wasn’t racism a problem for Jimmy? He likely valued his opinion of himself more than he valued some other people’s opinions of him… I am suggesting that changing one’s response to the slur will be far more empowering than trying to change the person speaking the slur. Rather than taking offence when such slurs are spoken (which is extremely disempowering), perhaps a better response is to laugh. Laughing is not endorsing such racial slurs, but simply communicates, ‘I’m a bigger person than you’.

From In Black and White: Australians All at the Crossroads, edited by Rhonda Craven, Anthony Dillon, and Nigel Parbury. Out now. Order here. In case anyone is thinking of suing Dillon under the Racial Discrimination Act, note that he identifies as part-Aboriginal Australian.

Destroy the “stolen generations” myth now, before more children have their future destroyed:

LEIGH Swift and Yvonne Mudford fear the time is coming when the Aboriginal girl they have raised will be taken from them.The idea plagues them. Mr Swift, 56, the Tennant Creek fire chief, and Ms Mudford, 46, who works for the Health Department, have fallen in love with Mikala, aged four…When she was six months old, Mikala’s parents, who live across the road, asked the white couple to babysit the child when they went drinking, which was four nights a week…When they arrived to collect her from an Alice Springs address, they found the front yard covered with crime scene tape from a homicide the night before…Mikala’s mother asked Mr Swift and Ms Mudford to “grow her up”.Late last year, the birth mother wanted to reclaim Mikala…NT Child Commissioner, Howard Bath, has said the law should be changed so the child’s well-being is considered ahead of cultural issues.“I don’t think she’s got a culture to lose,” says Ms Mudford. “How do a family that are continually drunk pass on an oral culture in a true and faithful manner?“I think she needs to know her family, but at this point in time they’re not able to look after her because of the drinking and the violence in the home.”Mr Swift’s 50-plus age prevents him from adopting. He has extended his posting in Tennant Creek just to be with Mikala.“I want her to grow up in society where she won’t have the outcomes of her family, which is alcoholism, abuse, jails. It’s the grog,” says Mr Swift. He says he’d be happy for Mikala to go back home, if home was safe. “I honestly don’t think it’s going to happen,” he says. “That’s what we’ve asked for - commit to the child for three months, off the grog. They can’t do that.”

Thanks to Paul Toohey for writing this important article.
(Thanks to reader A.)

On Network 10 at 10am:
- When grown men vilify a 13-year-old girl as the “face of racism”, who are the real bullies? Defying the New Racism.
- Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison on the boat people fiasco
- former Labor president Warren Mundine and former Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger
- a fact check on the abusive Mr Windsor.The twitter feed.The place the videos appear.

Tucked away in a hidden reserve, the home of the 2nd Malvern Scouts is about to be no more.Last month Stonnington Council decided not to renew their lease in favour of knocking down the hall to clear a path through Milton Gray Reserve…An email sent by a member of the public to one of the councillors asked the council to demolish its “unused and unsightly” building.But according to the chief commissioner of Scouts Australia’s Victorian branch, Bob Taylor, the so-called “unsightly” building was built by parents of scouts last century and was used for more than 80 years. Mr Taylor said the group closed in 2000, but since March about 20 cubs and joeys had returned to the hall after the scouts spent $60,000 revamping the building.

What are the councillors teaching these young scouts, who worked so hard to help restore the building now being so casually destroyed? A very, very poor example is being set.

Muslim Waleed Aly, academic and ABC host, is angry that US soldiers are fighting in ways which makes it impossible for the Taliban to kill them:

[Drones] so radically and fundamentally alter the nature of war that they risk making war seem far less grave, and far easier to wage. War is a kind of contract. Each side confronts the other, with the risk of death and defeat. In short, war should come at a cost. That contract is shredded when you’re attacked by something that cannot itself be killed. It’s not remotely a fair fight.

A word to Aly. There is no contract of the kind you imagine. The contract a society has is actually with its citizens, not its enemies. That contract is to fight for the society’s self-protection using whatever means it has to minimise its own losses and maximise those of its foes. For the US to do anything other is not remotely fair to its citizens and to those it asks to fight for them. It has next to no obligation to be fair to terrorists.
But what we are seeing in the battlefield is not just a clash of technology - drones against AK 47s and roadside bombs. It is a clash of cultures, and the weaponry is a product and a measure of each.
The reason the US has drones is it has cultural qualities that Islamic societies - especially those producing Talibani - have so long lacked. It has honored learning, put reason above dogma, encouraged free thought, defended free speech, governed by the rule of law and tolerated heresy. It has opened itself to the world and given its citizens a voice and power through democracy, perhaps the greatest source of its power.
Such a society will inevitably have a scientific edge over its enemies. That edge helps it to survive against even against terrorists who do not share, for instance, its respect for the lives of not just its own soldiers but of the innocent in the lands of its enemies. The culture behind the weaponry is what makes this fight not fair, and no person of reason should wish it otherwise.
For Aly to oppose the use of drones is not just to argue for more US soldiers to be killed. It is to demand the US give up the fruits of democracy and free inquiry, leaving those values more defenceless against cultures pledged to destroy them.
You can side with the drones or with the suicide vests. But in doing so you make a choice not just between technologies, but between freedom and oppression.
UPDATEThe latest drone news:

THE US drone strike that killed the Pakistani Taliban’s No 2 has delivered a powerful message to the new government that the controversial drone program can work in its interests.

The death of Waliur Rehman comes just days after US President Barack Obama outlined stricter protocol for drones, promising lethal force would be used only if a target posed a “continuous, imminent threat to the American people"…Rehman, 40, and second only to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan commander Hakimullah Mehsud, is understood to have co-ordinated dozens of suicide attacks on Pakistani civilians, waged guerilla war against Pakistani troops and conducted cross-border attacks against NATO troops fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan… His death on Wednesday morning, along with at least five others, in a missile strike on a Taliban safe house near the North Waziristan capital, Miran Shah, removes a powerful anti-state actor ahead of mooted peace talks between the new government and the home-grown terror outfit.

The Pakistan Taliban has demonstrated exactly what it thinks of free inquiry, free speech and the education of girls:

A society with those values is never going to be a pioneer in high-tech weapons.
UPDATE
I mentioned above the real war contract a society has - not with its enemy but with its people and its soldiers. Few described it better than did General George Patton - the real one and that played by George C. Scott, both of whom speak here:

No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

(And for a treat, read again Patton’s speech to his Third Army just before D-Day. I suspect Aly would be horrified by one of the greatest generals in US history.)
(Thanks to reader zulumuster.)

Our politicians declare it impossible for anyone of reason to question their faith that carbon dioxide is heating the world dangerously:

Mr OAKESHOTT: Will the Prime Minister and the leader of the other major party, if allowed, confirm for the House today, in a bipartisan way, their personal acknowledgement, acceptance and confidence in the facts and evidence of man-made climate change?… Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:23): To the member’s question, I absolutely confirm to him that I accept the science of climate change. I absolutely confirm to him that I accept that science, as I accept other scientific conclusions. Consequently that means that I understand that carbon pollution, in particular, is making a difference to our climate and so if we are to tackle climate change then we need to tackle carbon pollution in our atmosphere.... I absolutely accept the science and do not believe that it is possible for a person of reason to have any other view.

Two days later, a scientist offers another view:

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are to blame for global warming since the 1970s and not carbon dioxide, according to new research from the University of Waterloo published in the International Journal of Modern Physics B this week.CFCs are already known to deplete ozone, but in-depth statistical analysis now shows that CFCs are also the key driver in global climate change, rather than carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. “Conventional thinking says that the emission of human-made non-CFC gases such as carbon dioxide has mainly contributed to global warming. But we have observed data going back to the Industrial Revolution that convincingly shows that conventional understanding is wrong,” said Qing-Bin Lu, a professor of physics and astronomy, biology and chemistry in Waterloo’s Faculty of Science. “In fact, the data shows that CFCs conspiring with cosmic rays caused both the polar ozone hole and global warming.”

Union officials accused NBN Co of failing to honour an agreement in 2011 to prepare workers for the asbestos hazards as emails confirmed that company executives were told of the challenge to the $37.4 billion project. As Julia Gillard sought to hold Telstra responsible for the workplace failures, The Australian was told last night that at least two recent asbestos incidents related to contractors working for NBN Co, not Telstra.

I worry about the us-against-them culture of a certain minority.
Today lawyer Tamana Daqiq wites in the Sydney Morning Herald about her poor, picked-on relative:

I have been closely involved in the ordeal over the past three years of my relative Milad Al-Ahmadzai, the 23-year-old who appeared in Burwood Court this week charged with threatening serious harm to a Commonwealth official. I write to give voice to the anguish and drowned cries of his heartbroken mother and pregnant wife, and also as a duty to the Australian public, who have a right to know the truth. On the day that the government was questioned about the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s budget hike, Commonwealth officials conveniently leaked information to the media of the arrest of someone they had described as a “firebrand jihadist” with “demonstrated links” to terrorists…Despite the allegations made against him, ... no such evidence has been presented by the Commonwealth… Instead, Al-Ahmadzai has been the subject of ongoing harassment and interrogation by Commonwealth officials who have had him under 24-hour surveillance since he was 19-years-old for posting an “anti-government” comment online.And to what end? To arrest him four weeks after a threatening telephone call to a Commonwealth official made in a moment of sheer frustration.... Al-Ahmadzai is recorded as saying, “Come near my family again, I’m gonna slit your throat”. While his choice of words is obviously inappropriate, I believe it falls short of warranting him the title of “firebrand jihadist”. Rather, it seems this telephone call is a desperate plea to be left alone… The reality is that Al-Ahmadzai poses no real threat. The only apparent evidence of his alleged “terrorism” so far is that he fits the stereotype: he is Muslim; has a long, black beard; doesn’t agree with Australian foreign policy and is not afraid to say so. He is passionate and perhaps a bit of a loud mouth. He is the perfect scapegoat for the government’s failures.

Missing from this conspiracy theory are any references to charges over a ram-raid, links to a particularly disturbing preacher and material seized in an earlier raid.
Yes, Al-Ahmadzai must be presumed innocent, and should not be tried in the media now that he is charged. But that should also mean he isn’t given a highly partial character reference like this one that could feed a dangerous paranoia and victimology among young Muslim men.

===Watching a documentary about the Berlin wall, and seeing 70,000 East Germans tear down the wall that separated them from their families on the other side one brick at a time in 1989, overwhelming the politburo and the guards who stood down... Makes me love Freedom. Zaya Toma===From the Norwegian people who brought the world Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 people in bomb and shooting attacks last year they now show the world they are not any different to Breivik themselves. Daniel KCircumcision has been hotly debated in Scandinavian countries in recent times, but this week, Norway’s third largest newspaper, Dagbladet, took the issue well beyond the boundaries of civil debate and straight into the realm of blatant anti-Semitism.

The cartoon Dagbladet published on Tuesday ostensibly depicts the circumcision of an infant, but the sinister-looking people carrying out the ritual are actually cutting off the baby’s toes and stabbing his head with a demonic-looking fork. On the right side of the cartoon, you see police arriving on the scene, but after being assured that the practice is simply an expression of religious belief, they leave.

“Mistreating? No this is tradition, an important part of our belief!” the woman is shown telling the policemen.“Belief? Oh yes, then it is all right,” the officer responds while the second policeman apologizes for the interference.

The men in the cartoon bear a striking resemblance to the hideous caricatures of Jews in classic anti-Semitic cartoons, right down to their black garb and beards. And they are holding books – ostensibly volumes of Torah – that are soaked in the blood of the screaming child.

Circumcision is depicted as a form of mutilation and torture, and the idea that there is a religious basis for the practice serves as the cartoon’s punch-line, as if there are “beliefs” that call for cutting a baby’s toes off with a bolt cutter.

“This is a despicable attack on Jews and a fundamental tradition of Jewish life,” said HonestReporting CEO Joe Hyams, who was attending the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism when the cartoon was published.

“That this cartoon has been published as delegates meet from around the world in Jerusalem to coordinate the fight against anti-Semitism graphically illustrates the need to combat this pernicious Jew hatred.“

After complaints about the cartoon from the Jewish community in Norway, the cartoon’s artist, Tomas Drefvelin, wrote an email to MIFF, a Norwegian pro-Israel organization, denying the cartoon was anti-Semitic. It was meant, he wrote, “not as criticism of either a specific religion or a nation [but] as a general criticism of religions.”

“I gave the people in the picture hats, and the man a beard, because this gives them a more religious character,” he said. “Jew-hatred is reprehensible. I would never draw to create hatred of a people, or against individuals.”

While Drefvelin may not have intended to employ classic anti-Semitic tropes and caricatures, his cartoon now takes its place as the latest in a long line of fiendish depictions of Jews in black coats and hats carrying out outrageous and morally offensive acts designed to inspire reactions of disgust from the public.

Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, compared the cartoon to Nazi propaganda, which often exaggerated Jewish rituals to give them a demonic appearance. “This is a violent cartoon which is meant to inspire hate and contempt against one particular people,” he said.

You can register your outrage by writing directly to Dagbladet’s editor-in-chief John Arne Markussen at john.arne.markussen@dagbladet.no. While this cartoon has understandably generated a great deal of anger and hurt, we call upon our subscribers to make your complaints in a civil fashion and to make it clear exactly why the global Jewish community would find the cartoon so utterly offensive. Remember – a civil discourse is more likely to successfully make our point.

The Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism

The 4th International Conference of the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism is currently taking place in Jerusalem. Click here for more on the Conference.

===Renew Your Heart.Salvation Prayer!Since we did not stop committing sin after we gave our lives to Christ,there is need for us to renew our heat on daily basis. The prayer.Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.

You said in Your Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that You raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved.Amen.

From the Blog

Today’s contestant on “Stump the Congressman” is Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Ed Markey, who is running in the special election to fill the Senate seat John Kerry vacated when he became secretary of state...

1924 – The Soviet Union signs an agreement with the Beijing government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an "integral part of the Republic of China", whose "sovereignty" therein the Soviet Union promises to respect.

Morning

A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ, that he will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable. Jesus will not walk with his people unless they drive out every known sin. He says, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." Some Christians very seldom enjoy their Saviour's presence. How is this? Surely it must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy Father's face? What! thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without his company! Surely, thou hast fallen into a sad state, for the chaste spouse of Christ mourns like a dove without her mate, when he has left her. Ask, then, the question, what has driven Christ from thee? He hides his face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up of little pebbles, as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea which divides thee from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins; and the rock which has well nigh wrecked thy barque, may have been made by the daily working of the coral insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst live with Christ, and walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with Christ, take heed of "the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes." Jesus invites you to go with him and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the foxes at once and easily. Go with him to the hunting.

Evening

Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice's den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler--be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again! It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which all have an eye to thy purity and holiness; therefore run not counter to the purposes of thy Lord. Another thought should restrain thee from sin. Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore be not the serf and bondman of sin. There is yet a higher argument: each time you "serve sin" you have "Crucified the Lord afresh, and put him to an open shame." Can you bear that thought? Oh! if you have fallen into any special sin during this day, it may be my Master has sent this admonition this evening, to bring you back before you have backslidden very far. Turn thee to Jesus anew; he has not forgotten his love to thee; his grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come thou to his footstool, and thou shalt be once more received into his heart; thou shalt be set upon a rock again, and thy goings shall be established.

===

Caesar

[Cae'zar] - one cut out. The surname always used in the New Testament for all Roman emperors. To Caesar the Jews paid tribute and it was also to him that those Jews who were Roman citizens (for example, Paul,Acts 25:10-21), had the right of appeal.

===

Deborah

Name Meaning -Deborah means a "bee," and is emblematic of industry, patience, sagacity and usefulness-a beautifully appropriate name for a maidservant or nursemaid. Deborah's conduct throughout her long life fulfilled the expectation, or hope, expressed by her name. As a bee symbolizes constant activity, industrious diligence and care, the God of grace enabled Deborah to live her life as a devoted, quiet and faithful nurse.

Family Connections-We know nothing of Deborah's background. She was probably born in servitude, yet her parentage was commendable enough to warrant the domestic office of great trust in the patriarchal household of Nahor.

As Rebekah's nurse she accompanied her mistress to her new home after her marriage to Isaac. When Jacob and Esau were born into the home we can imagine how lovingly Deborah would care for them. Then when Jacob married, and his family increased rapidly, it is probable that Rebekah and Isaac gave Deborah to nurse them. When Rebekah had no further use for her nurse, she did not dismiss her. Deborah remained in the family and was held in great reverence. She became an indispensable treasure in that ancient patriarchal circle. When she died at an advanced age-almost 100 years according to some writers-she was lamented for as one of the family, and great honor was paid to her at her death. Her name and the place of her burial are immortalized in the words, "Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak tree whose name Jacob called Allon-bachuth (which means, Oak of Weeping )." The entire family was touched by her passing, and all who had been the recipients of Deborah's faithful devotion wept for her as for one of their own. Through her faith to God, she had transformed the bonds of servitude into those of love, and earned the devotion and gratitude of those whom she had so long and loyally served. Deborah brought the glory of God into the most commonplace duties of Jacob's home. No wonder all eyes were wet with tears as they buried her aged, bent body under that oak tree. Famous men, like Earl Shaftesbury and Robert L. Stevenson, have testified to the debt they owe to devoted nurses who were so kind and devoted to them in their earlier years, and who greatly influenced their lives, even more so than their own parents.

Today's Old Testament reading: 2 Chronicles 10-12

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you...."

Today's New Testament reading: John 11:30-57

30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died...."

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About Me

I'm author of History in a Year by the Conservative Voice aka History of the World in a Year by the Conservative Voice.

I'm the Conservative Voice.

I'm looking to make contact with those who might use my skill.

I have an m-audio mobile pre amp fed by the audiotechnica 2041sp condensor mic pack. Prior to 15/4/06, I'd used a Shure sm-58 that required a nuclear blast to register a sound or the internal mic of my aged imac, which has a penchance to recording my breathing. I also used a Griffin itrip, until the community convinced me it was not hiding my talent as well as the other mics.

I am a Writer and an occasional Math Teacher (Sir, what's the occasion?). I like to sing, having no instrumental talent (cannot even clap in time, and yes, I'm aware singing badly IS obnoxious).

I have performed the finale to Les Miserables before an audience of 500. I have also sung before a similar audience (students, parents) renditions of 'I Will' (Beatles), 'Mr Cairo' (Jon Vangelis) and 'I am Australian' (Seekers). Now I seek another profession because the audience hates me ..